DIY Concrete Sidewalks

Fashion a spacing bar by sawing a piece of scrap timber to equal the width of the sidewalk.

Establish the perimeter of the sidewalk by driving stakes along the outside edges. Set one stake for every 3 feet, using a measuring wheel or tape measure.

Dig up a trench for your sidewalk with a shovel. A normal sidewalk requires a trench 8 inches deep.

Lay out the mold of the sidewalk by setting out wood planks (either 2-by-4-inch or 2-by-6-inch lumber) or masonite hardboard on both sides of the trench. Use the spacer from Step 1 to ensure that the sides of the mold are separated by the proper distance all the way down the length of the sidewalk.

Put the mold together by fastening the stakes to the mold planks with a hammer and nails. Some of your stakes might be out of position because of adjustments with the spacer from Step 4, so pull these up and replant them. Fasten the mold planks end-to-end by driving nails through both ends at an angle.

Check the bed of the sidewalk is level by setting your spacer in it. This provides a visual reference where the spacer meets the sides of the mold. Add or subtract dirt with a shovel and an iron rake as needed until the bed is reasonably flat.

Dump gravel into the trench and spread it out along the bed with an iron rake, creating a smooth foundation of gravel 4 inches deep.

Mix a batch of concrete in a wheelbarrow and dump it into the trench. While an assistant spreads the concrete with the iron rake, mix another batch of concrete. Keep mixing, dumping and spreading as a team until the mold is full of concrete.

Finish the top of the sidewalk by smoothing it down with a float. Should an area of the concrete form a small puddle of water, allow the concrete to reabsorb it before smoothing it down with the float.

Place the spacer to establish a straight line across the width of the sidewalk and cut expansion grooves with the groover. Then put control joints into the expansion grooves by pushing the tip of a trowel into the joint to a depth of 1 to 2 inches. Cut expansion grooves every 40 inches of sidewalk and control joints for every 3 inches of expansion groove.

Brush the top of the sidewalk with a push-broom, so it becomes rougher and gives more traction.

Lay plastic sheeting over the top of the sidewalk and let the concrete cure for at least 24 hours. Remove the sheeting and break down the mold. Fill in the vacant space in the ground where the mold was with leftover dirt.